New York
by Melody Malone
Summary: "They were your parents, regardless of complications, and you will never, ever see them again, and you just accept that?" - MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ANGELS TAKE MANHATTAN. The Doctor and River share a heart to heart, and talk about River's life in New York. Short oneshot.


For a while, neither one of them said anything, and it was almost as though the TARDIS knew to keep her silence too. She probably wanted to land, she was probably tired of how slowly they were making their way through the time vortex, but she knew her Doctor, and held herself back. He was standing at the controls, pretending to be setting coordinates, checking settings, but River knew he was processing things. Slowly. And all she did was curl up on a step, and begin writing in her little blue book. It was quite full up by now, but there was definitely more than enough room for her parents.

"Why are you taking this so well?" She looked up to see her husband had moved from his post at the controls, and was now standing over her, and in a hurry, she closed her book.

"Spoilers." She said, in her most gentle tone, and he shook his head.

"No, don't give me that, don't you dare give me that River!" He snapped, the anger finally boiling over, and she just moved to her feet, and he glared. "They were your parents, regardless of complications, and you will never, ever see them again, and you just accept that?"

"I've told you all I can say." She sighed, and he grabbed her wrist, and that only made her narrow her eyes, and sharply pull it back. He wasn't a man that would lay his hands on her, but she knew of his anger well enough to not give him the chance to think that he could.

"I will NEVER see them again, WHY do you think that will effect me? What difference will it make?" He turned from her, and went back to his controls, and she opened her book, and stared at a few pages. She flipped back and forth between them, before looking over at him, and of course he was already staring back at her, half expecting her to say something, and half hoping that she will.

"I don't remember much of that first life." She said carefully, and he raised his eyebrows. "But the second... I remember waking up in an alley, much the way it ended, in fact... Someone must have found me and took me into hospital. I was fine, they just assumed abandoned. I was far too young in body to remember much apart from that." River moved to the console, distracting herself this time by staring down at the flashing lights, almost willing her to continue.

"There was a doctor there. He was... old, not elderly, but well into his fifties... and he said no-one was coming for me. That he and his wife would take me in. That they hadn't been able to have children of their own." As the column rose and fell, she saw the look of realisation cross the Doctor's face, and she nodded ever so slightly, and moved to lean against a railing. "Of course, I think Rory knew full well who I was. A mother and father never forget what their little girl looks like, even if they are completely different in features."

"Were they... happy?" He was almost afraid to ask, but River just smiled at him, and walked over to him.

"They told me all these wonderful fairy tales. About pirate ships and roman centurions, about the stars. Mother had a print of a Van Gogh painting in her study, of course, and told me what a wonderful man he was... And of course, they told me all about their imaginary friend who took them to all those wonderful places, and about how one day, just maybe, if I wished hard enough, that same imaginary friend would carry me away."

"Then how did you end up in Leadworth? How did you suddenly become their best friend?"

"Because, my dearest, though they are my parents, and though I love them dearly... Time was linear. I aged slowly while they seemed to get older by the day... By my eighth birthday, they were 63. And caring for a young child at their stage in life... it was just unheard of. And they knew what was to come. The Silence. Amy saw me, and she knew... If she didn't put me in that place, they would take me from her, and she couldn't bear that again. This way it would be her choice. So she told me..." River paused, and looked down at the ground. "She told me to be a brave little girl, and that they'd always be watching me. That the raggedy man would take care of me before I knew it." She stopped speaking at last, and saw that the Doctor was sitting on a step, his head resting on his linked hands, and she knelt on the ground next to him. "And then you were, but I was sick, dying... And I regenerated, and slowly but surely, I made my way to Leadworth to my mother, my father... you." She cupped his hands in her own, and gently kissed his knuckles as he looked at her, and she smiled sadly.

"I promise my love, we were a very happy family. And we loved you ever so much."


End file.
